Bears beat 49ers, still have a shot at claiming a bye

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – With a dominant defense behind him, Mitchell Trubisky knows the Chicago Bears offense doesn't have to do too much to keep winning.

That formula has the Bears heading into Week 17 with a chance to earn a first-round playoff bye.

Trubisky threw a TD pass and the Chicago defense used a couple of key late stops to keep San Francisco out of the end zone, leading the Bears to their eighth victory in nine games, 14-9 over the 49ers on Sunday.

"For us as an offense, we have to do our part as well," Trubisky said. "Because we're a family and we want to take care of those guys and take a lot of pressure off them and score a lot of points so they don't have to play all-world every single week. That's the standard that they've come to hold themselves to."

Khalil Mack and Co. delivered again. Danny Trevathan made a key interception with San Francisco driving in the fourth quarter, and then the defense made one more stop to clinch at least the third seed in the NFC playoffs. The Bears (11-4) can earn a first-round bye with a victory over the Vikings in the season finale at U.S. Bank Stadium and a loss by the Rams, who play host to the 49ers (4-11) on Sunday.

"We've been in this situation so many times and have come up big. It's almost expected of us," cornerback Prince Amukamara said. "Like when we had to go back on the field to help win it for our team. Everyone was poised and no one was shaking. We expected great things to come out of it and we're glad we stood up for our team."

The game turned feisty in the fourth quarter, when safety Marcell Harris hit Trubisky after he started sliding on a scramble near the Bears bench. Trubisky's teammates took exception to what they considered a "dirty" hit and a scuffle ensued with punches being thrown and San Francisco cornerback Richard Sherman and Chicago receivers Joshua Bellamy and Anthony Miller getting ejected.

The 49ers had one last chance when the Bears' Allen Robinson fumbled — Chicago could have run out the clock had he simply went down — but San Francisco's Nick Mullens threw a deep incompletion to Marquise Goodwin on fourth-and-4 from the Chicago 45 instead of scrambling for the first down.